Myst, Might, Mayhem

Chapter 431 – Political Situation (4)

“Chief Commander! Chief Commander!”

In the esteemed guest house of the Righteous Alliance.

Zhuge Do-yang, the First Commander who oversaw both the military and intelligence departments of the Righteous Alliance, opened his eyes and came to his senses.

What he saw was the Alliance Leader Jeong Hyeon-mun, covered in wounds, trying to stop the bleeding from his severed leg.

“L-Leader……”

“Are you alright? Are you conscious?”

“I’m… I’m fine. How… How… Kuk.”

Zhuge Do-yang touched the back of his aching head.

His head might have been cracked, as he felt blood on his hand.

As he touched it, Zhuge Do-yang remembered what had happened.

-Swoosh!

[V-Vice Leader? What are you doing?]

[Well. What am I doing?]

They had been escorting the envoy from the Kaifeng Imperial Palace to the guest house.

The moment the door closed, the Vice Leader Sword of Fulfilled Ambition and Defiance Wi Takhyeon suddenly beheaded the envoy.

Then, he overwhelmed Zhuge Do-yang, who was right next to him, with his superior martial arts, cut off his leg, and struck the back of his head.

That’s why he had lost consciousness.

Recalling the memory, Zhuge Do-yang spoke with an agitated voice.

“The Vice Leader! The Vice Leader killed the envoy……”

“Calm down. I tried to hurry as much as I could, but it took time to subdue him, so you’ve lost a lot of blood. You need to circulate your qi now.”

At the Alliance Leader Jeong Hyeon-mun’s words, Zhuge Do-yang realized that his condition wasn’t good either.

Indeed, he had lost a lot of blood, feeling dizzy and finding it difficult to breathe.

However, right now, the Vice Leader’s sudden killing of the envoy was a bigger issue than his own condition.

“Leader. Now is not the time to worry about me. The Vice Leader……”

“I know. I’ll go straight to the grand conference hall after moving you to a safe place.”

“You can call someone else to do that. This situation could……”

“Potentially cause a conflict between the Imperial Palace and our Alliance. It seems that the Vice Leader, or rather Wi Takhyeon, was aiming for that.”

The Alliance Leader Jeong Hyeon-mun seemed to have anticipated this to some extent.

Zhuge Do-yang’s face turned serious as he spoke.

“How could the Vice Leader do such a thing……”

No matter how he thought about it, it didn’t make sense.

Vice Leader Wi Takhyeon had been a chivalrous hero who had run the Righteous Alliance together for a long time.

Zhuge Do-yang found it utterly incomprehensible that he, of all people, would do such a thing.

The Alliance Leader Jeong Hyeon-mun showed him something soaked in blood.

“Is that?”

Zhuge Do-yang’s eyes widened.

It was a wooden tag used by the spies of the Heaven and Earth Society.

This tag, designed to be easily destroyed at any time, was something they had learned about while capturing the Heaven and Earth Society’s spies infiltrated into the Righteous Alliance.

“…… Wi Takhyeon tried to put this in his mouth and chew it to swallow before he died.”

“Then the Vice Leader……”

“It seems he had some connection to the Heaven and Earth Society.”

“Haa…… How could this happen…… The V-Vice Leader was a spy for the Heaven and Earth Society……”

“We’ll need to investigate further, but for now, the probability that the Vice Leader was acting under the Heaven and Earth Society’s instructions is very high.”

At the Alliance Leader Jeong Hyeon-mun’s words, Zhuge Do-yang’s expression darkened.

Although there had been occasional cases of high-ranking officials in the Alliance being connected to the Heaven and Earth Society, this was too shocking.

That the Vice Leader of the Righteous Alliance, of all people, was a spy for the Heaven and Earth Society……

‘Wait a moment.’

Unable to accept it, Zhuge Do-yang suddenly recalled how Vice Leader Wi Takhyeon had consistently opposed confrontation whenever the Alliance came into contact with the Heaven and Earth Society.

While taking a hard line against the Evil Alliance, he had advocated for friendly relations with the Heaven and Earth Society.

At the time, they had thought it was because Vice Leader Wi Takhyeon harbored more resentment towards the Evil Alliance for losing his bloodline in the war against them.

Highlighting this, it became difficult to assert that he had no close connection to the Heaven and Earth Society.

So, Zhuge Do-yang said,

“Leader. Even if it’s not certain, if there’s physical evidence, we have no choice for now.”

“No choice?”

“…… We’re not in a situation where we can determine whether the Vice Leader definitely had connections with the Heaven and Earth Society or not.”

“What do you mean?”

“The only way to avoid an immediate conflict with the Imperial Palace is to send the Vice Leader’s head and that tag to the Imperial Palace, proving that this incident was caused by the divisive tactics of a Heaven and Earth Society spy.”

“…… Are you saying we should use the dead Vice Leader to put out the urgent fire rather than uncovering the truth?”

“That’s not enough. The Imperial Court won’t withdraw their anger with just that. To show our sincerity, you should be prepared to confront the Heaven and Earth Society.”

“Confront the Heaven and Earth Society?”

“Yes.”

“But if we clash with the Heaven and Earth Society now, it won’t end as a small conflict.”

Alliance Leader Jeong Hyeon-mun was worried.

If they were to clash under the pretext that the Heaven and Earth Society had planted a spy as high-ranking as the Vice Leader to instigate a war with the Imperial Palace, war would be inevitable.

To these concerns, Chief Commander Zhuge Do-yang shook his head and spoke as if there was no other choice.

“Clashing with the Imperial Palace would negate all the friendly relations our Alliance has built with the government until now.”

“…… Is that the only way to prevent this? If we clash with the Heaven and Earth Society, it might provoke the Evil Alliance to move as well, potentially leading to a war between the righteous and evil factions.”

“Then the only option is to first persuade the Imperial Palace with the Vice Leader’s corpse. If that doesn’t appease their anger, we have no other choice.”

At these words, Alliance Leader Jeong Hyeon-mun closed his eyes and let out a groan.

It had come down to choosing between the Imperial Palace or the Heaven and Earth Society.

How did the situation come to this?

After a moment of silent contemplation, he opened his eyes and stood up.

“I understand. You’re right. If our Alliance clashes with the Imperial Palace, the ones who would benefit the most are the groups of evil path practitioners like the Heaven and Earth Society and the Evil Alliance. We must prevent that.”

“That’s right. What they’re aiming for is to profit from the conflict between others. We must stop that at all costs. Leader, please hurry.”

“First, I need to get you…”

“Please call someone. I’ll take care of things here, so you need to preside over the meeting as soon as possible to deal with the situation.”

“Are you sure you’ll be alright?”

“I’ll be fine. Please go quickly.”

“…… Alright. I’ll send someone, so you focus on circulating your qi.”

“Understood.”

As Alliance Leader Jeong Hyeon-mun was about to leave the guest house, he suddenly stopped.

Then, he pulled out a sword with elaborate patterns engraved on it that was stuck in the floor.

“Is that?”

“It’s the demonic sword Howl-hacking Blade[1]. It’s now a sword that has lost its master.”

“Ah…”

Zhuge Do-yang let out a sigh, as if feeling sorry.

As he did so, Alliance Leader Jeong Hyeon-mun spoke while sheathing Howl-hacking Blade.

“I should retrieve this demonic sword for now. Leaving it here could cause trouble.”

“I suppose so. But… Are you alright?”

“What do you mean?”

“…… The sword.”

Zhuge Do-yang had been wondering how Alliance Leader Jeong Hyeon-mun could casually hold the demonic sword.

That demonic sword was known to exact a great price from anyone who wielded it other than its master.

Alliance Leader Jeong Hyeon-mun shrugged and replied.

“I’m suppressing the sword’s spirit with my true qi. Don’t worry.”

At these words, Zhuge Do-yang nodded in understanding.

While an ordinary swordsman might have trouble, Alliance Leader Jeong Hyeon-mun was one of the Seven Heavens, called the peak of the current martial arts world, and an unparalleled master known as a Great Master.

He believed that with his profound true qi, he could suppress even a demonic sword.

“Then I’ll hurry off now.”

“Please do.”

With that, Alliance Leader Jeong Hyeon-mun left the guest house.

After he left, Chief Commander Zhuge Do-yang tried to adjust his posture to circulate his qi.

As he did so, his eyes fell on the corpse of Vice Leader Sword of Fulfilled Ambition and Defiance Wi Takhyeon, who had breathed his last.

His corpse was also covered in blood and in a mess, suggesting a fierce battle.

Perhaps because he had the tag he tried to chew and swallow taken away by the leader, his jaw was dislocated, and one eye…

‘Did he gouge out the eye?’

Zhuge Do-yang frowned.

Alliance Leader Jeong Hyeon-mun was known as a Righteous Sword Chivalrous Hero[2], embodying the righteous path.

He had never crossed the line or shown excessive brutality, even to enemies. Yet, he had gouged out the eye of a comrade who had shared the same sense of righteousness until just recently.

Was he that enraged by the betrayal?

Even so… This doesn’t seem like his usual way of doing things.

***

A cliff so high that looking down made one feel as if they were staring into an endless abyss.

On top of this cliff lay a large middle-aged man in a comfortable position, supporting his head with one arm.

Though covered by clothes, the middle-aged man’s entire body was full of muscles.

The middle-aged man, who had been trying to sleep with his eyes closed, opened them at a faint tremor.

-Swoosh!

The middle-aged man who opened his eyes slightly moved his head to look down the cliff.

In the abyss filled only with darkness, a blue light flickered.

Then,

-Rumble!

At that moment, the cliff where he was lying began to shake as if an earthquake had struck.

One might have been inclined to get up due to the unease caused by the shaking ground, but the man simply continued to stare at the abyss without the slightest movement.

Then, from within that abyss, the blue light began to shine even more strongly.

At that moment,

-Rumble rumble rumble rumble!

The ground began to shake with an intensity incomparable to the previous vibration.

At this, the middle-aged man who had been staring down without movement pushed himself up with one hand, then walked over to a place where something was piled up.

There, about twenty pointed wooden pillars were stacked, each engraved with what looked like scriptures in red letters.

-Tap!

The middle-aged man reached for one of these wooden pillars.

The wood was literally a log, looking so heavy that four or five adult men together would struggle to lift it, but,

-Crunch!

The middle-aged man’s fingers distorted the wooden pillar, then lifted it with ease.

It was an incredibly astonishing sight.

Grasping the wooden pillar like this, the middle-aged man strode towards the shaking cliff and looked down into the abyss.

Then,

“Hoo.”

As he took a deep breath, his body began to glow red, and steam-like vapors started to rise from his entire body.

As the middle-aged man exhaled and inhaled again, this time his skin turned not just red but black with heat.

Then, the middle-aged man,

-Whoosh!

Threw the wooden pillar engraved with red scriptures down into the abyss.

As the man threw it, strong wave-like ripples appeared wherever the wooden pillar passed, as if it was piercing through layers of air.

-Bang! Bang! Bang!

The middle-aged man watched the wooden pillar as it became smaller and smaller.

It was around the time when the wooden pillar became invisible to the eye.

At that moment,

-Boom!

A red flash spread out from below with a thunderous sound.

Along with it,

-Roar!!!!

An immense gust of wind surged upwards, accompanied by an ear-splitting roar from the bottom of the abyss.

The middle-aged man’s eyes narrowed and his gaze sharpened as he watched this.

‘It’s getting stronger.’

It was becoming increasingly difficult to suppress.

There weren’t many blue wood pillars engraved with red scriptures left, but the power of that being trapped down there was growing stronger and stronger.

It used to wake up maybe once every ten years, but this was already the second time in a month.

The intervals were getting shorter.

‘Was it since then?’

The middle-aged man recalled that ominous three-eyed being who had first invaded this place besides his family.

These phenomena had been occurring since that one entered this place.

It wasn’t a good sign.

It could potentially lead to the worst-case scenario.

Just then, he heard someone rushing towards him.

It was a young man with a large build comparable to the middle-aged man’s, none other than the monster Yoo Moo-jin who had competed with Mok Gyeong-un at the Sichuan Tang Family.

“Father!”

Frowning at his appearance, the middle-aged man, or rather Yoo Moo-jeok, who was called father, said,

“Didn’t I tell you to stay put until that ominous energy in your heart was completely resolved?”

“That’s true, but right now, at the entrance of the valley……”

“What’s the matter?”

“I think you need to see for yourself.”

At this, Yoo Moo-jeok ran towards the entrance of the valley with his son, Yoo Moo-jin.

Upon arriving at the entrance, Yoo Moo-jeok’s expression hardened.

This was because at the entrance of the valley, which should have been inaccessible due to a formation, countless strange beings, or rather Imaemangyang, were lined up.

Yoo Moo-jin spoke with a grave voice,

“What on earth is happening?”

A phenomenon that had never occurred since their family began guarding this place was unfolding.